


A Very Merry (Vegetarian) Holiday

by brilligspoons



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Food, Gen, Holidays, Vegetables, Vegetarians & Vegans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-14
Updated: 2012-12-14
Packaged: 2017-11-21 03:14:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/592819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brilligspoons/pseuds/brilligspoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Moira's going to redefine Christmas dinner at the academy even if it takes her <i>years</i>. Luckily, it only takes five (and an intervention by Erik).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Merry (Vegetarian) Holiday

**Author's Note:**

  * For [heyjupiter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyjupiter/gifts).



> Hope you like this, **heyjupiter**!  <3

The first Christmas Moira spends with Charles and the kids at the academy, the dinner menu consists of ham, a bean casserole with cheese and pieces of bacon mixed into it, and a pot of frozen corn that Sean heats up in the microwave as she looks on in dejected horror. She finds herself poking around in their refrigerator for literally _anything else_ as Alex and Hank help the younger ones carry stacks of plates and napkins and cutlery out to the dining room, but it's depressingly clear that Charles is feeding small children who will do anything to avoid eating their vegetables. Moira sighs and closes the fridge door, only letting it slam a little bit in frustration, and resigns herself to eating a plateful of tasteless (and nutritionless) corn.

 _This is your own fault,_ she tells herself. _You should have said something to Charles last week._

"Everything all right?"

She jumps and spins around. "Your chair should come with a squeak built in, Charles," she says.

"I'll have Hank get to work on that immediately," Charles says, patting one of the wheels and winking at her. "What's wrong? You were staring at my fridge like it had run over your dog."

Moira hesitates for a moment. She doesn't think that Charles will be a jerk about it, but she's not sure she's in the mood for the inevitable profuse apologies that he'll spew once he finds out what's bothering her. In the end, it's probably easier for her to suck it up and eat the corn like she'd planned.

"Nothing," she says. "But really, Charles, no salad? Frozen corn? Beans drowned in fake cheese? These kids are never going to grow up properly if you keep caving to Scott and Ororo's no vegetable policy. Besides, Ororo can't keep the rain clouds going forever."

Charles' face falls. "I _tried_ to talk to Alex and Sean about sticking to the approved grocery list, but Scott insists on going with them, and Alex can't say no to him."

Moira laughs and shakes her head. "You're all pushovers. Don't worry - I'll tell some stories at dinner that will have the kids begging you for organic tomatoes."

She distracts them all from commenting on her plate of corn by recounting the time her second partner at the agency was hospitalized for a week due to an extreme case of vitamin deficiency. Later, when she's climbing up the stairs with a sleeping Jean in her arms, she overhears Scott ask Alex if they can buy spinach the next time they're at the store. Moira bites back a triumphant grin.

***

There's a bowl of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and ranch dressing waiting for her on the table when she arrives at the academy the following Christmas. Moira represses the frustrated sigh that's welling up in her throat, but the suspicious look on Charles' face tells her that she hasn't quite gotten away with it. Jean and Scott, now tall enough to help dish out portions of food to everyone, serve her some slices of turkey and a spoonful of bacon-infused casserole.

"I made the casserole this year," Jean tells her. The dish and spoon continue floating from person to person, not stopping even when the spoon drops a healthy serving onto Sean's lap. She looks up at Moira's face hopefully. "Scott told me he wasn't going to eat any, so you'll have to tell me if it's good, okay?"

Moira stares at her plate. "I'll, uh, definitely let you know," she says. Jean perks up, and Moira makes herself reach for her fork. Luckily for her, Jean turns around to apologize for not paying attention to where the casserole was going. Moira quickly scoops up her portion off the plate and sets it down on Charles' plate, and she mimes eating when Jean looks at her again. "That was delicious!"

Jean lets out a whoop and runs off to tell Scott that her first cooking experiment turned out perfectly.

Moira glances over to Charles, who seems excessively preoccupied with cutting his turkey into very small chunks.

"Cheese," she says vaguely. She waves her fork around in the air.

"I didn't say anything," Charles says without looking at her, "and I certainly didn't think anything, either."

A week later she receives an email from Charles that just says, _How long have we known each other now? You could have just told me you're a vegetarian. Next time! Remind me!_

***

Ororo is staring very intently at a pile of ingredients on the counter when Moira walks into the kitchen two Christmases after that. It _looks_ (and Moira's really trying not to get her hopes up this time, despite Charles' multiple reassurances that he'd make the holiday meal a bit more inclusive this year) like there are portobello mushrooms, spinach leaves, walnuts, raspberries, and a few other things that don't involve meat and/or fish (the salmon had been an absolute _delight_ to find last year. Really. Though the grey, hateful cat that Scott had adopted around Thanksgiving seemed to enjoy the peace offering - there were fewer scratches down her arms at the end of the night, anyway). Moira sets her overnight bag down near the back door and walks over to stand beside her.

"What's with the long look, kiddo?" she asks. "Hank lock you out of his lab again? I told you he wouldn't appreciate another up-close-and-personal with a lightning bolt."

"It was _one time_ ," Ororo says, just a hint of a pout forming on her lip, "and he asked me to do it."

"Then what's up?"

Ororo pokes at a spinach leaf. "Are you sure this is what you want to eat? Charles is making lamb this year. It smells really good."

"It does smell pretty delicious," Moira agrees, "but I think I'll be okay with this."

"You sure?"

"Think of it this way: this means there's more lamb for you to eat."

Ororo looks up at her, skepticism written all over her tiny face. "I still think you're missing out."

"And I think you're the one missing out," Moira replies, ruffling her hair. "Want to help me cut up the mushrooms? It'll go faster with two of us doing it."

***

The next Christmas dinner doesn't actually happen on Christmas. Erik and Charles have apparently extended olive branches to each other and they decide to do a joint Hanukkah and Christmas celebration in the middle of December. Moira raises an eyebrow at the menu that Charles emails her a few weeks before the event and purposefully finds Erik first to shake his hand when she arrives at the mansion.

"You have no idea how much I love you right now," Moira says. "Seriously. _Winter squash_ , it's a miracle."

"Obviously I've been taking the wrong approach to dealing with humans if this is your reaction to a slight change in the holiday dinner menu," replies Erik. "Thank you for showing me the error of my ways. And you're welcome."

There's a mental tap against Moira's mind, and then she hears Charles say, _I made the boys buy you mushrooms last year. Doesn't that count for anything?_

She snorts and links arms with Erik instead of responding to Charles. "I'll tell you how to get the kids to eat their vegetables without complaining if you help me cube the squash."

"Deal."

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: _This could be open to basically any character really, you're welcome to bring anybody back that you want to write about. Anyway, this is kind of near & dear to my heart but, what if one of these characters is some kind of hippie VEGETARIAN and it's the holidays and everybody at the mansion keeps trying to make them eat turkey, or saying, "Oh no, what are you even going to eat? Should we go get more salad?" Just something about holiday food and being inclusive to non-meat-eaters would give me holiday warm & fuzzies._
> 
> _(It doesn't have to have like, a PETA lecture or anything, though I wouldn't be opposed if it did ;) Just the idea that food has significance at the holidays even though not everyone eats all the same traditional dishes.)_


End file.
